A Harmless Gift
by TheOneAndOnlySlayer
Summary: Some time after The Force Awakens, Rey is given a gift by Ben - formerly Kylo Ren, recently redeemed into the Light Side of the Force. Rated T only for a few unavoidable swears (don't get too excited). Fluff/Drabble


Gifts

By TheOneAndOnlySlayer

Kylo – Ben – had given her a jar of something one day. Rey had stood in front of some reflective surface trying to pat down her hair. She had frozen when her eyes caught the shiny blue container in his large, pale hand.

He had said simply, so quiet and under his breath that she barely heard it, "I thought you would want to use it in the future."

Rey had been so gobsmacked at this extension of kindness that she could only nod and say thank you. It had seemed to be enough for Ben. He had walked away without so much as a nod.

It had remained in Rey's pack all that time. It first felt like a burning weight, so significant was it to her, like a talisman. For a while she had not opened it. Her unusual feelings for the redeemed Jedi had caused her to feel they were doing something wrong. She hadn't meant to shut him out completely – she was responsible for bringing General Leia Organa's only son back from the Dark Side – so she wasn't above saying hello and how are you whenever they crossed paths. But still, she wasn't sure…what it all meant. What she was supposed to do.

But she, Poe and Finn were on the run from some mission one day, and their engine was frozen due to the sudden temperature drop. They had cursed together at the unpredictable setback.

Not like any of them carried any extra engine oil, all right.

But then Rey remembered the slightly sweet-smelling jar of salve Ben gave her, and perfect! She had opened it once, in her room when no one would tease her because she had no idea what it was. Of course there was a label, but she saw it was written in basic.

Rey could be very resourceful. She had been complemented on this many times, from Finn to whoever served her lunch in the mess hall, to General Organa herself. She could make explosives out of bacta and short-fuse energy sticks and invent all kinds of things into makeshift weapons, tools, even radios. Her improvised education on Jakku saw to that.

She just wasn't literate in her own first language.

Didn't matter, because began to spread the oil all over the cooled engine, deep into the crevices so it could start again.

Finn yelled at her to hurry up and she simply poured the last of it all over the top hinges. It had to work. She'd be cursed the biggest fool if their failure to take off cost their poster boys, the star pilot and the ex-Stormtrooper.

They made it to safety, barely limping back to home base when everyone – everyone – had crowded around them.

"How in Kriff's name did you bastards get out of there alive?" someone demanded, sounding just as jubilant in their disbelief as everyone else.

Poe didn't pause. "Our blumming engine froze, and Rey – as fucking _usual_ – pulled something out of her pack and just, I don't know – "

"What did you do?" Leia asked.

Rey was rendered speechless at the woman's expectant gaze. She didn't see him, but could tell that Ben was close, just apart enough from the main crowd.

"I," she started. Her hand was already in her pack, she was just suddenly embarrassed to tug it out. "I just – "

"Something smells like hair slick down here," someone said a little too loudly.

Some of the fighters leaned inward to inspect the smell, but the tall, stocky one with the dark hair voiced the next question. "Did you cover the engine with _hair slick_?" he said in disbelief.

Rey ducked her head in slight, super-slight confirmation.

What followed next was the teasing – they thought it was fun, their way of showing their approval at her innate talent of getting out of, ahem, messy situations. But her face burned when they practically chanted, Finn included, "Rey saved us all with her hair slick."

"I thought it was engine grease or something!" she blurted out.

No one would shut up about it for the whole day. Humiliated at her ignorance, Rey avoided everyone at all costs. She skirted the mess entirely and walked along the beach.

Since when did she ever need anything for her hair? Were people that vain? Poe definitely was. Leia had been a princess, but to give her credit it was simply demanded of her to look damn perfect in front of everyone. Rey had gotten to know a handful of women within the tight-knit Resistance, but not to the point of trading cosmetic tips. Bleedin' _Kriff_.

"Rey."

Rey stopped dead in her tracks. It was Ben. She had practically been marching in her jumbled-up, brooding anxiety, so no wonder the raven-haired man found her.

"Oh, gods, I don't – " she started. "Look – "

They both talked over the other. "Wait for me, please" "I didn't know" "I didn't know, I should've – " "Unbelievable how everyone had to - "

"Talk to me!" he said over the waves.

Rey blinked her frustration and blew out an angry puff of air. "It's not a big deal."

"I'm not offended," he said in an even, patient voice. "It saved you. I'm actually impressed. I think they're all impressed, if you would stop and listen to them."

Rey had to fight the very immature need to clasp her hands together protectively. To look less vulnerable, she raised them to cradle the back of her head, gazing up at the indigo sky as if the answer was written up there for her to pluck out.

"I didn't even know it was for your…for your hair."

If she had looked back at him, she would see an adoring look of admiration on his face. The slow smile and the glittering dark eyes. "It says so on the front. There's a label."

"I know there's a label," Rey shot back quietly. "….I can't read, you know."

Rey said it clearly enough so she would only have to say it once. But there was a wavering of guilt in her voice. It wasn't like everyone could tell. Finn had learned this about her when he showed her some documents he recovered from the First Order, but he was the one presenting them, and they hardly had any time to teach her.

Ben's head quirked to the side, inspecting her as if he didn't believe her. He didn't say anything for a long time. Neither of them did. Rey just stared out at the sea hoping he would go away somehow.

But instead he got closer. He leaned on a large rock that was waist-high. "Well, I suppose that makes sense," he mused finally. "You don't talk much about your time on Jakku."

"That's because it doesn't mean much, not compared to – " said Rey.

But Ben had pressed on. "It means enough to me."

That made Rey's neck bloom with warmth. Suddenly she was aware the skin down to her collarbone was exposed to the cool sea air, and it shivered into goosebumps.

She softened. She didn't deflate, exactly. But she was relieved to feel the fight leave her.

There was a little space next to him. Shaking her head, smiling, she ducked her head (though he clearly saw her; felt her smile, anyway) and sat down.

"Gods, I felt stupid today."

"Finally," Ben replied. "I needed some attention drawn away from me for once."

Rey smacked his arm playfully. "Shut up."

She snuck a glance at the lower half of his face. His mouth, once so easy to curl into a deadly sneer, spitting out the most hateful things at her, now smiled like it was the most natural thing in the world. It awed Rey especially, proof that he really had come back.

Her hand was quite close to his. Just less than an inch apart. She decided to settle these feelings brewing between them and wrap her hand around his.

She observed the sand and small pebbles that had stuck onto his skin. Not looking into his carefully guarded eyes. That would not go away for a while, no matter how many times he could smile at her in a day.

They held hands and watched the moon's rays bounce along the horizon of the water. It really was beautiful. Rey fought off the desire to make some smartass comment on how picturesque the view was. Like they were on a date. _Don't make this anymore awkward than it is. Baby steps, like Poe said._

It wasn't long before Rey allowed him to move their clasped hands onto her knee. Then when the wind started up, he wrapped his cloak around them both. By then Rey had hitched her legs up so that her knees were huddled up to her chin, and his arm was safely around her shoulders. Her head rested over the front of his shoulder. Her forehead stuck to the skin of his neck, where his scent was the strongest.

Rey didn't want to go back to her room alone, where this would fade into some memory. She leaned up, watching his careful, but wanting eyes. _Enough of this_ , she thought to herself. And finally kissed him.


End file.
